REAL PEOPLE, REAL ISSUES

May 31, 2008

Black bloggers fight to make voices heard

With its
power-to-the-individual approach, the new media world promises anyone
with a laptop the possibility of a publishing empire. But, as some
black bloggers are finding out, the new media world is a lot like the
old one: racially segregated, with many prominent black voices still
fighting to be heard.Some bloggers felt insulted this month when the Democratic National
Committee selected 55 state-oriented blogs to cover its convention in
Denver; critics said few featured African American voices. The DNC said
race wasn't considered in its selection from 400 applicants. Officials
were more interested in the sites' audience size and how much chatter
about local issues appeared on them. The DNC answered critics Thursday
by adding several sites led by African Americans to its general blogger
pool.But some critics say the DNC situation is indicative of a larger
media divide. It's a division in which stories like the racially
motivated beating in Jena, La., last year lingered for months on black
blogs and talk radio before the mainstream press picked up the issue.That coverage gap is partly what inspired Gina McCauley to help
organize the first Blogging While Brown conference this summer in
Atlanta. The most popular online community conferences - like the
Netroots Nation confab that grew out of the Daily Kos blog - tend to be
predominantly white gatherings."The progressive blogosphere is segregated," said McCauley, whose
What About Our Daughters blog was accepted to the DNC's blogger pool.
Essence magazine named McCauley one of its 25 most influential people
last year alongside Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and filmmaker Tyler
Perry. "Black bloggers link to other black bloggers, and progressive
white bloggers link to other white progressive bloggers," she said."I don't know why that is," said Gina Cooper, executive director of
the Netroots Nation conference. After last year's second annual
convention, she expressed her frustration about the lack of diversity.
Netroots Nation is offering scholarships this year, and Cooper is
seeking other ways to make the gathering inclusive.

Black TV News Channel

Obama's presidential campaign might have raised the visibility of
black voices and stories in the mainstream media, but it has not,
according to some, quenched the thirst for them.That's why former Oklahoma GOP Rep. J.C. Watts - a onetime CNN
commentator - is planning to start a 24-hour cable news network devoted
to African American issues and perspectives. Comcast plans to add the
Black Television News Channel to its cable packages in cities with
large African American populations, including Philadelphia, Chicago,
Detroit, Washington and Atlanta, sometime in mid-2009."The mainstream press by and large likes to see African Americans
through a certain prism, and it is a small and cordoned-off prism,"
Watts said. "Most institutions are like that. They see the African
American community as an afterthought. But we are much more than drugs
and crime." SOURCE:SFGATE

Comments

Black bloggers fight to make voices heard

With its
power-to-the-individual approach, the new media world promises anyone
with a laptop the possibility of a publishing empire. But, as some
black bloggers are finding out, the new media world is a lot like the
old one: racially segregated, with many prominent black voices still
fighting to be heard.Some bloggers felt insulted this month when the Democratic National
Committee selected 55 state-oriented blogs to cover its convention in
Denver; critics said few featured African American voices. The DNC said
race wasn't considered in its selection from 400 applicants. Officials
were more interested in the sites' audience size and how much chatter
about local issues appeared on them. The DNC answered critics Thursday
by adding several sites led by African Americans to its general blogger
pool.But some critics say the DNC situation is indicative of a larger
media divide. It's a division in which stories like the racially
motivated beating in Jena, La., last year lingered for months on black
blogs and talk radio before the mainstream press picked up the issue.That coverage gap is partly what inspired Gina McCauley to help
organize the first Blogging While Brown conference this summer in
Atlanta. The most popular online community conferences - like the
Netroots Nation confab that grew out of the Daily Kos blog - tend to be
predominantly white gatherings."The progressive blogosphere is segregated," said McCauley, whose
What About Our Daughters blog was accepted to the DNC's blogger pool.
Essence magazine named McCauley one of its 25 most influential people
last year alongside Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and filmmaker Tyler
Perry. "Black bloggers link to other black bloggers, and progressive
white bloggers link to other white progressive bloggers," she said."I don't know why that is," said Gina Cooper, executive director of
the Netroots Nation conference. After last year's second annual
convention, she expressed her frustration about the lack of diversity.
Netroots Nation is offering scholarships this year, and Cooper is
seeking other ways to make the gathering inclusive.

Black TV News Channel

Obama's presidential campaign might have raised the visibility of
black voices and stories in the mainstream media, but it has not,
according to some, quenched the thirst for them.That's why former Oklahoma GOP Rep. J.C. Watts - a onetime CNN
commentator - is planning to start a 24-hour cable news network devoted
to African American issues and perspectives. Comcast plans to add the
Black Television News Channel to its cable packages in cities with
large African American populations, including Philadelphia, Chicago,
Detroit, Washington and Atlanta, sometime in mid-2009."The mainstream press by and large likes to see African Americans
through a certain prism, and it is a small and cordoned-off prism,"
Watts said. "Most institutions are like that. They see the African
American community as an afterthought. But we are much more than drugs
and crime." SOURCE:SFGATE

September 2012

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